Insomniac has theories as to why Resistance wasn't Sony's Halo

Resistance was big, but never as big as Halo, and Insomniac CEO Ted Price has his theories as to why the shooter never became a juggernaut for Sony the way Halo did for Microsoft.

Speaking with Kotaku, Price said one of the team’s theories is due to the changes made to the series with Resistance 2 development.

“We have theories internally about why Resistance wasn’t a Halo,” he said. “One is that we changed the game a lot in Resistance 2, and we surprised players in a way that perhaps wasn’t what was expected. And that may have not been a good thing. By changing up some of the core mechanics and— we got a lot of strong feedback when we did that.

“On Resistance 3, we went back to some of our more traditional core mechanics that players did love, and then built a story that was more personal. That in our opinion was the way to move the franchise forward in a way that was unique for first-person shooters.

“We’re really proud of Resistance 3. The team felt very personally connected to Resistance 3.”

Price also said the reason Insomniac didn’t develop Resistance for Vita, was due to the studio not having “the bandwidth to move onto the Vita.” Therefore, Sony handed off development duties for Resistance: Burning Skies to Nihilistic.

“We were really happy that Nihilistic went ahead and created their own vision of Resistance, and we feel very close to the franchise cause we created it, but it’s always interesting to see what other people do with it,” said Price.

“I thought that what they did with the game made a lot of sense, in terms of the decisions that they came to with their core mechanics. So I felt like it stayed true to the universe… [but] frankly, I was spending a lot more time playing our own games.”

Insomniac’s next release is Ratchet & Clank: Q-Force, also known as Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault in the US. The firm is also working on FUSE – the game formerly known as Overstrike.

Resistance wasn't Sony's Halo because it's a different kind of FPS. If any games have a chance at claiming that title it's Warhawk/Starhawk or Dust...The former 2 didn't accomplish that...

I know people who don't own one Halo game but own all the books in the series. No other game has the cultural impact that Halo has right now. The only comparisons would be something like Star Wars. I love Resistance but it was never even close to being a Halo.

Resistance wasn't Sony's Halo because it's a different kind of FPS. If any games have a chance at claiming that title it's Warhawk/Starhawk or Dust...The former 2 didn't accomplish that...

Warhawk/Starhawk dont even hold a candle to Halo. And neither did Resistance and I seriously doubt DUST 514 will either especially with what 343 has been doing so far. Resistance had mediocre graphics, weak online and the campaign was very lackluster. Thats why Resistance sold horribly and why Insomniac dropped it regardless of any sorry excuses and PR statements they might make.

Warhawk/Starhawk dont even hold a candle to Halo. And neither did Resistance and I seriously doubt DUST 514 will either especially with what 343 has been doing so far. Resistance had mediocre graphics, weak online and the campaign was very lackluster. Thats why Resistance sold horribly and why Insomniac dropped it regardless of any sorry excuses and PR statements they might make.

I know, I mentioned all of the above games more due to the more open nature of the maps as well as the inclusion of vehicles. Halo was in the right place at the right time and really captures the essence of online play in a lot of ways.

I know, I mentioned all of the above games more due to the more open nature of the maps as well as the inclusion of vehicles. Halo was in the right place at the right time and really captures the essence of online play in a lot of ways.

Killzone is Sony's Halo and not only that KZ is better than Halo. I'll take gritty, top notch graphics and gameplay over the cartoon look of the Halo weapons and jumping around arcade style gameplay any day.

lol Looking at the sales and the online activity of both games its safe to say that most people outside this forum fantasy world would disagree with you.

I knew someone was going to shoot back with the sales argument so i guess i'll respond with this then. Gran Turismo 5 is clearly much better than any game in the Forza series since the sales are through the roof for GT5 while Forza sales trail behind.

You convienently ignored online activity. KZ online activity was so poor that Sony had to make the KZ3 mp portion a free download. Not surprised though since I've read alot of complaints across the net from KZ fans talking about the almost non-existent online community. So if KZ is so much better than Halo why were there so few people playing KZ3 online? Example of one of many across the net. http://community.us.playstation.com/.../td-p/31007739

I too have read that KZ was supposed to be Halo killer. That would have been a good thing...competing in the game space like that would generate even more unique experiences for the consumer. That said, KZ ended up being a linear game that looks good. Halo ended up being an open world game that looks great.

That said, they are both totally different games and I enjoy them both.

As for Resistance, I did get a Halo feel from the character set and aliens. But the overall feel of the game did not feel like a Halo. I don't think Insomniac was trying to make Resistance a HALO. I think they wanted just HALO success.

You convienently ignored online activity. KZ online activity was so poor that Sony had to make the KZ3 mp portion a free download. Not surprised though since I've read alot of complaints across the net from KZ fans talking about the almost non-existent online community. So if KZ is so much better than Halo why were there so few people playing KZ3 online? Example of one of many across the net. http://community.us.playstation.com/.../td-p/31007739

You convienently ignored online activity. KZ online activity was so poor that Sony had to make the KZ3 mp portion a free download. Not surprised though since I've read alot of complaints across the net from KZ fans talking about the almost non-existent online community. So if KZ is so much better than Halo why were there so few people playing KZ3 online? Example of one of many across the net. http://community.us.playstation.com/.../td-p/31007739

People don't buy a PS3 to play games online. They buy one for the best single player experiences and then they play online with it. PSN is just a bonus to most PS3 owners.

Killzone wasn't a launch title like Halo. It's never going to have as strong a following as Halo does. It's like comparing Mario to Blinx.

The PS3 has more exclusives overall to choose from. So gamers are moving from one game to another at a rapid rate. Unless it's called Call of Duty it's probably not being played on the PS3 with regularity like the shooters on the 360 are. Halo, Gears, and Call of Duty.

The 360 gets less releases per year which leads to gamers sticking to the few releases that do get released.

So it's a combo of things that keep Killzone from really thriving. If Sony shipped it in a green box it would sell just as many copies as Halo or more. That's a given.

I personally don't like Halo at all. I pretty much hate it, but I can see that it is quite popular compared to Killzone and Resistance.

KZ2 & 3 are not as popular as they should be because of some bad decisions that were made by Guerilla.
Having server browser as the only means of playing KZ2 online for the most part killed it(along with majority of the maps designed for lot less people than the game supported). It eventually boiled down to two choices: 32 people radec games, or a different game altogether.

KZ3 went in the wrong direction by adding the capture spawn points, and becoming lot more casual friendly.

Resistance 2 made similar mistakes by making the wrong changes for the sake of change.
Insomniac does not need to tell us what we already know.

Halo was iconic. Resistance wasn't. My two sons have all kinds of Halo action figures even though my oldest was one and my youngest wasn't born when the original game came out. Now consider that both played Resistance long before we owned a 360. There is no theory to contemplate. Rad said it and he is right. Resistance wasn't in the same league as Halo.

I personally love the Resistance universe. That and Killzone could have been monstrous franchises for Sony but there were so many missed opportunities with the two, so many mistakes that destroyed that goal.

Halo has a huge huge story, it has a rich backgorund, it has different factions, it has a history to the storyline.

The fact that Halo MP turned out to be so much fun was a bonus.

That you can read up and delve into the back story of Halo so well, its quite an amzing universe to find youself in.
My son started playing Halo, bear in mind he's a jaded 12 year old whos played quite a few shooters.
The next thing I know hes reading this:

Halo has the "it" factor, I have no idea what it is, but its certianly got it in spades.

Halo has the "it" factor, I have no idea what it is, but its certianly got it in spades.

Yup, it just appeals to a lot of people. To clarify my other post, i wasn't knocking Halo. I just feel Killzone is a more polished and authentic experience that fits my needs as a gamer.

Halo is cool because it has mass appeal. Humans vs. Aliens with the mega hero who saves the world time and time again. And like you said the multiplayer is fun and easy to pick up and play. It definitely has the it factor.

I love the Resistance franchise but it didn't feel the same once they changed the mechanics for Resistance 2. Fall of Man has an incredible way to socialize with people and the online gameplay is diversed with many options. Going to miss FoM once they pull off the plug, I still play it and there isn't much left. It's currently averaging 130 players or less on the custom games and as for the Rank Games, that's completely dead.

Killzone 3 wasn't widely accepted as a "Halo Killer" because the developers didn't include enough into the mutiplayer. K3 was amazing but once you realized how long it took to level up a class then weighed the benefits of lvling that class you come to the realization that there's an obvious lack of content. Why weren't there more guns and maps for a game that had squads why wasn't there more of an emphasis on playing strategically. Killzone 4 won't be a "Halo Killer" because K2 and K3 lost out on that opportunity. The next Killzone should be Killzone, and it should be a better Killzone. F@#$ Halo f%^@# COD make a better Killzone game. Take K3 expand on the multiplayer I will even accept a K5 if K4 is good. Just stick to making Killzone it's own game I think the next Killzone should have two campaigns this will allow players to choose a side. Have one play as Hellgast and the other ISA then when you play online you will be an enemy on another players online campaign to play the story mode online against live players. Choose your side idk something like demon souls I want to play as a Hellgast and be invaded.

"I think all those developers who are saying, "We donít want to do a PS3 game," or "Itís really difficult to do it," should shut up and make their games. If you have time to complain about it, then you should be spending your time working on getting the most from the hardware."

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